Samsung Galaxy A (2017) series is not coming to the United States

The Samsung Galaxy A (2017) series is the new face of the Samsung mid-range. A trio of phones, the 4.7" A3 (2017), the 5.2" A5 (2017) and the 5.7" A7 (2017) are stylish and feature something that almost no other rival can brag about: water-protection.

Unfortunately, though, the new Samsung Galaxy A (2017) series is not coming to the United States. Samsung officially confirmed that it has no plans to bring any of the three phones stateside, at least initially.

That's not exactly a surprise: the Galaxy A series launched two years ago and neither the original Galaxy A series, nor the Galaxy A (2016) were available in the US. Such more affordable devices also tend to find better footing in markets that sell the phones without a subsidy, while in the US it is flagships that rule the charts.

Samsung Galaxy A (2017): 8 cool new features

A dual SIM phone is not that common of a requirement in the United States, but in many other places people are often forced to walk around with two devices, one with their work number, and another one for their personal needs. And needless to say, this is a hassle: nobody wants to worry about charging two phones and keeping them up-to-date. That's why the most practical feature of the new Galaxy A5 and A7 (2017) series is the fact that the phones come with a separate secondary SIM card slot that one can easily access. You no longer need to choose between either a second SIM or a microSD card, you can have both. Unfortunately, the Galaxy A3 (2017) still comes with the hybrid card slot of before.

Dual-SIM, microSD

image

Water protection is a feature that is usually reserved for high-end phones. No more. The new Galaxy A series feature an IP 68 protection rating, meaning that you can safely submerge them in water for a short period of time and they will not suffer any damage. That's definitely cool, as often an accidental drop in water can brick your phone.

Water protected

image

Unlike any other phone, the new Galaxy A (2017) devices have their loudspeaker located not on the bottom, or the back, but on the side. Located right, just above the power / lock key, you can see the drilled holes for the loudspeaker. We don't know why Samsung decided that that was the right spot for the speakers (and we've reached out to the company to ask), but it does seem like a place that at least will not be easily blocked by your fingers. Not bad.

Side speaker

image

On the software side, we are seeing a new button that you can enable in the camera for the first time with the Samsung Galaxy A (2017). The camera app features a new floating camera shutter key that you can move around. Why? Simple, sometimes you hold your phone in a weird position and it's just not convenient to reach for the camera shutter button at its usual position, so you can now just move it around.

Floating camera button

image

A fingerprint scanner was more and more common last year, but this year Samsung really drives the point that even its more affordable phones should have it. It's great having a fingerprint reader for security, it's a fast and convenient way to have your phone protected against thieves, and on the new Galaxy A (2017) series, the finger scanner is built in the home key up front.

Fingerprint scanner

image

Having a fingerprint scanner, opens the way to wireless payments, and the new Galaxy A series do support Samsung Pay. The neat payment platform supports newer terminals with NFC, but also works with older MST magnetic terminals, something that rival services like Apple Pay and Android Pay do not support.

Samsung Pay support

image

We're glad that Samsung has finally transitioned its more affordable phones to the USB-C port. This is the new standard: the connector is conveniently reversible, so you don't need to worry which is the right way to plug in your phone, and there is a ton of additional features that this new standard supports.

USB-C

image

Another interesting detail is the added support for fast charging on the Galaxy A5 (2017) and A7 (2017). Given the larger size of their batteries - a 3,000 mAh one on the A5 and a 3,600 mAh on the A7 - the fast charging definitely comes as a welcome addition. The A3 (2017) lacks this feature, but it also has the smallest, 2,350 mAh battery that still would charge in a relatively quick time even without fast charging support.

Fast charging

Samsung Galaxy A (2017): 8 cool new features

A dual SIM phone is not that common of a requirement in the United States, but in many other places people are often forced to walk around with two devices, one with their work number, and another one for their personal needs. And needless to say, this is a hassle: nobody wants to worry about charging two phones and keeping them up-to-date. That's why the most practical feature of the new Galaxy A5 and A7 (2017) series is the fact that the phones come with a separate secondary SIM card slot that one can easily access. You no longer need to choose between either a second SIM or a microSD card, you can have both. Unfortunately, the Galaxy A3 (2017) still comes with the hybrid card slot of before.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. You can order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers at https://www.parsintl.com/phonearena or use the Reprints & Permissions tool that appears at the bottom of each web page. Visit https://www.parsintl.com/ for samples and additional information.